A Holiday Writing Plan

With NANOWRIMO behind me (no where near the 50,000 words -guess my heart wasn't in it) I need a plan to keep writing over the holidays.

First priority is my WIP. I mean the WIP before the NANO-WIP.  The one that's lying in piles all over my desk. The one where I really wanted to be working on instead of NANO. For this I'm going to set up a few things.

Timeline; I've set this aside for over a month now so I really want to see a timeline of events so I don't change the facts mid story. My secret wish here is to paint one wall in my office like a chalk board so I can have a giant wall of notes. Wouldn't that be great? Everything on the wall at a quick glance. Or maybe I could use that white board paint. Then once it's wiped, it just looks like a white wall. Hmmm...might visit Lowe's today. (See what happens when my husband leaves me alone for a day? Mwahahaha!)

Space heater; My office is in in the back of the house and it gets chilly. Maybe I'll get that shrink wrap for the windows, too. Hello winter in the Northeast! Sometimes I think about going back to work and would rather stay by the wood stove in the family room. Of course, it's harder to work there.

Fact sheet; I guess this goes with the timeline wall. The story is a little complicated so I want to keep the little things straight. I hate when I read a book and things like descriptions, places, etc change half way through the story. I always flip back to double check and think, "How could the writer have missed that?" Well I know how the writer could miss it. Writing a book can take months, years in some cases (Harry Potter) and it morphs and grows as it's being worked on so there's always room for change.

Okay, that's my plan. Are you ready for this crazy holiday season? Any special plans for your WIP?

New Job Sucking My Writing Time

A new job, started last June, has stolen all my writing time. It's been consuming my mind and making it difficult to focus on anything else. Half learning as I go and half over thinking what has to be done next. It's more complicated than the last two jobs I've muddled through with this company, so it's always on my mind. One day I go in and think; Easy, I got this! The next I think: WTF am I doing?

Either way, my WIP sits in a heap on my desk. I look at it and have to turn away. My mind is just too full of everything I have to or want to do in the real life job. Now, I'm in September and that's four months of rocking between easy-peasey and WTF.  Okay, maybe there are more easy days now, but they bring -if it's so easy, I must be forgetting something!

I really need to start writing. I'm always calmer when working on a story. It turns on something inside me and soothes the soul.

This weekend I'm locking myself in and not coming out until my brain clears!

Wish me luck...

Writer Meet Chair

Writing is simple: writer meets chair. You have to just sit down and write. Carve out your time and just do it.

To which I reply; HA!

If it were truly that easy I'd have more than one book up on Amazon. Those five or ten books that I've actually finished would have more than one draft. I wouldn't be stressing over the cube thing interview I have this afternoon.

So yesterday I locked myself in my newly finished writer's cave, determined not to leave for the whole day. Outcome? I went from page 100 to 195 of my rewrite for No Apologies.

I'm keeping a log book next to my computer of date/time/page numbers of work done. When I got up this morning and looked at my book it felt good. I actually accomplished something yesterday. How the hell did that happen?

It wasn't easy. At times it was hard to keep my butt in the chair. The ghosts of Facebook and Twitter called. My email begged to be opened. The house called out to be cleaned. These were real creatures reaching into my cave and trying to pry me out of my chair. It almost felt like I was beating them off with that Louie-ville slugger I keep next to my night stand.

This morning I'm here again in my writing cave. Space heater cooking, trying to out work the cold February wind that's leaking through my windows, coffee at my side and dogs at my feet. The old calico cat is curled up on the towel I folded on the edge of my desk. I think she wants me to write. She looks so content as I hit the keys.
That's a picture of Hemmingway's desk down in Key West. When we went I took pictures of every room in his house. Tomorrow we'll visit his bathroom. ;)
See you tomorrow.....

Slowly going crazy

Still no computer. I get up early and go on my daughter's. However, there's no Word on this puter. CAN YOU IMAGINE A COMPUTER WITHOUT WORD?

Its like a world without air.

All my current WIPs are on Edgar who is up at college. :(

I hope he's having fun there, taking good care of my WIPs and not staying up to late. Edgar needs his rest. I think my head is going to explode if I don't get these voices down in Word.

See those bottles? That's what happens when you drop a Mentos in a bottle of diet Coke. Lesson here? Be careful when you mix dangerous snacks.